GIANT WALKER – All In Good Time (2022)

GIANT WALKER are a Heavy Progressive Rock band from Newcastle, UK, consisting of female singer Steff, Jamie, Jordan and Alex. After individually relocating 300 miles to further develop their craft, the Geordie quartet was coincidentally born in the South, bound together by their northern heritage and a shared love for progressive rock music.
Written during the 2020 lockdown, their debut album “All In Good Time” features themes of self-isolation and a dystopian reality. Their music captures the many lows of loneliness and tips a hat to the music that gets you through hard times; sweeping you up in a conceptual journey, from giant riffs to melancholic melodies, and ambient soundscapes. The CD cover art is fantastic btw.
Musically, GIANT WALKER isn’t your typical prog metal band – there’s many nuances into their music from melody to groove.

Having steadily built their reputation by playing the long game – singles started appearing over six months ago as part of a lead-in to the release of ”All In Good Time” – Giant Walker’s first full-length – the four-piece are displaying a patience that is reflected not just in the title, or their release approach, but also in their music.

While the fare on offer here is inherently progressive metal it is imbued with a stronger emphasis on melancholic atmosphere, songwriting, and reflective dynamics than most of their contemporaries.
With short songs benefiting the album there is no threat of style over substance and with Steph Fish’s vocals painting a sepia retrospective tone over everything in a way that really enhances the overall feeling, there is something a little different and something a little more interesting to the norm happening here.

Don’t let the angular guitars that lurch and stagger at the outset fool you, either; there are elements art rock to play out across the album, of course, but these are a tertiary colour in the wide palette. Indeed, by the time ‘The Fact In Fiction’ and ‘Katoomba’ have finished setting the scene as an opening pair, a fuller landscape is about to be revealed.
While the framework – Jamie Southern’s sharp, elastic opening riffs stepping back for a more reflective verse and a louder chorus before the band explore different territories ahead of tying it all back up within a cosy four and a half minutes or so – is set, those additional colours are about to be introduced to help create something very interesting and promising indeed.

‘Podha’s lurching groove reveals a darkened doom underbelly, before Fish’s voice takes on a retro bluesy tone during the mid-section, as with the verses of ‘Left To Wreck’, while ‘Inertia’ takes a more sedate and reflective stroll: the further we dive into the album, the more the progressive and softer influences reveal themselves.

‘Past The Peak’ shines glorious post-rock light onto the canvas, and perhaps takes the podium with its lush reflective dynamic , ‘Optophobia’ plays in the Tool sandpit as bassist Jordan Gregory and drummer Alex Black lock into a thick groove with an understated Nineties vocal decorating the track, while ‘All We Have Is Gone’ sees Southern adding cool inflections under the chorus and linking a wasp and wail solo that expands into an entrancing cascade over a looping rhythm.
Indeed, the latter songs prove the stronger half of the album, despite (or, perhaps, because of) the songs being more reflective and less catchy.

‘Coda’ further enforces this, reminding at times of the missed Black Peaks, if stripped down a little; a contemplative closer to an album that builds from initial strong brushstrokes to create an increasingly more intricate and emotionally powerful picture.
A very interesting new band bringing something fresh to the prog metal table.
Highly Recommended

 

01 – The Fact In Fiction
02 – Katoomba
03 – Podha
04 – Inertia
05 – Optophobia
06 – Left To Wreck
07 – Past The Peak
08 – All We Have Is Gone
09 – Coda

Steff Fish – Vocals
Jamie Southern – Guitar
Jordan Gregory – Bass
Alex Black – Drums

 

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